Summary of Florida's Water Reuse Guideline or Regulation for Industry
This page is part of the EPA’s REUSExplorer tool, which summarizes the different state level regulations or guidelines for water reuse for a variety of sources and end-uses.
The source water for this summary is Treated Municipal Wastewater.
On this page:
- Technical basis
- Water reuse industrial applications approved for use in Florida
- Water reuse treatment category for industrial applications
- Additional context and definitions
- Water reuse for industrial applications specifications (table)
- Upcoming state law or policy
- References
- Disclaimer
This page is a summary of the state’s water reuse law or policy and is provided for informational purposes only. Please always refer to the state for the most accurate and updated information.
In Florida, water reuse for industryThe use of recycled water for industrial applications, often created at the industrial facility. This includes recycled water generated through onsite processes such as boiler water, cooling water, manufacturing water, and oil and gas production, as well as recycled water generated offsite and imported elsewhere for industrial reuse applications. includes reuse for certain types of non-contact cooling systems, closed cooling systems and open cooling towers. The source of water treated municipal wastewaterTreated wastewater effluent discharged from a centralized wastewater treatment plant of any size. Other terms referring to this source of water include domestic wastewater, treated wastewater effluent, reclaimed water, and treated sewage. is specified by the state as domestic wastewater. The write-up on this page uses state terms when discussing sources or uses of water that may differ from the Regulations and End-Use Specifications Explorer's (REUSExplorer's) terms.
Technical basis
Florida approves the use of recycled water for industrial applications, including as cooling water for open cooling towers and once-through cooling systems at industrial facilities. All applicable provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA) (33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.), including its implementing regulations, must be met in addition to any state water quality standards. All application systems must receive secondary treatment with disinfection (Fla. Admin. Code r. 62-600.440). Disinfection type (“basic” or “high-level”) and performance standards (i.e., microbial specifications) vary for each approved industrial application. Treatment requirements and performance standards are applied for the removal of microbial contaminants, chemicals and other relevant indicators are summarized in the table below. The technical basis for developing the specifications and/or removals of microbial contaminants, chemicals and other relevant indicators is not explicitly specified.
Water reuse industrial applications approved for use in Florida
Fla. Admin. Code r. 62-610 defines the following approved industrial applications:
- Once-through, non-contact cooling systems at industrial facilities (Secondary treatment and basic disinfection)
- Once-through, closed cooling systems at industrial facilities which are not open to the atmosphere (Secondary treatment without disinfection)
- Open cooling towers (Secondary treatment and basic disinfection or Secondary treatment and high-level disinfection)
Water reuse treatment category for industrial applications
Treatment facilities that provide “basic disinfection” must meet the following criteria using either membrane filtration or equivalent most probable number (MPN) methods (Fla. Admin. Code r. 62-600.440):
- The arithmetic mean of the monthly geometric mean values collected during an annual period and the geometric mean for a minimum of 10 samples (each collected on a separate day during a period of 30 consecutive days [monthly]) should not exceed 200 fecal coliform values/100 mL of reclaimed water or effluent sample.
- No more than 10% of the samples collected during a period of 30 consecutive days shall exceed 400 fecal coliform values per 100 mL of reclaimed water or effluent sample.
- Any one sample should not exceed 800 fecal coliform values/100 mL of reclaimed water or effluent sample.
- When chlorine is used for disinfection, a total chlorine residual of ≥0.5 mg/L should be maintained after at least 15 minutes contact time at the peak hourly flow. Rapid and uniform mixing are required.
Treatment facilities providing “high-level disinfection” must meet the following criteria using either membrane filtration or equivalent MPN methods (Fla. Admin. Code r. 62-600.440):
- Over a 30-day period (monthly), 75% of the fecal coliform values shall be below the detection limits.
- Single sample maximum of 25 fecal coliform values/100 mL of reclaimed water or effluent sample.
- Single sample maximum of 5 mg/L of total suspended solids at a point before application of the disinfectant.
- When chlorine is used for disinfection, a total chlorine residual of ≥ 1.0 mg/L shall be maintained at all times. The minimum acceptable contact time is 15 minutes at the peak hourly flow. Rapid and uniform mixing are required. At new or expanded treatment facilities, the contact time at peak hourly flow should be ≥25 minutes if ≤1,000 fecal coliform values/100 mL are present in samples, ≥40 minutes if 1,000–10,000 fecal coliform values/100 mL are present in samples and ≥120 minutes if ≥10,000 fecal coliform values/100 mL are present in samples.
Additional context and definitions
In Florida, cooling towers must be designed, operated and maintained utilizing best engineering practices to control biological growth (Fla. Admin. Code r. 62-610). A 300-foot (horizontal) setback distance must be provided from the cooling tower that receives reclaimed water to the site property line. Control of aerosol drift is also required for open cooling towers (Fla. Admin. Code r. 62-610). Other setback distances are not required.
Reclaimed water, upon flowing out of the once-through, non-contact, cooling system, that is returned to the domestic wastewater facilities for additional treatment or disposal or reuse, must be defined to be a “domestic wastewater” (Fla. Admin. Code r. 62-610). “This definition is made solely for the purposes of classifying wastewater treatment, reuse, and effluent disposal facilities associated with the domestic wastewater facilities” (Fla. Admin. Code r. 62-610). This definition applies “only if the sole change to the quality of the reclaimed water during the once-through, non-contact, cooling process is a temperature increase, and conditioning chemicals, other than chlorine and other chemicals accepted by the Department, have not been added to the reclaimed water” (Fla. Admin. Code r. 62-610).
Water reuse for industrial applications specifications
Summary of Florida's Water Reuse for Industrial Applications Reuse Specifications
| Recycled Water Class/Category | Source Water Type | Water Quality Parameter | Specification | Sampling/Monitoring Requirements (Frequency of monitoring; site/ location of sample; quantification methods)* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Secondary treatment without disinfection (Once-through, closed cooling systems at industrial facilities which are not open to the atmosphere) |
Domestic wastewater |
TSS |
≤20 mg/L (annual average) ≤30 mg/L (monthly average) ≤45 mg/L (weekly average) <60 mg/L (single sample maximum) |
Not specified |
|
CBOD5 |
≤20 mg/L (annual average) ≤30 mg/L (monthly average) ≤45 mg/L (weekly average) <60 mg/L (single sample maximum) |
Not specified |
||
|
Secondary treatment and basic disinfection (Open cooling towers; Once-through, non-contact cooling systems at industrial facilities) |
Domestic wastewater |
Total suspended solids (TSS) |
≤10 mg/L |
Not specified |
|
Fecal coliform |
≤200 fecal coliform values/100 mL (annual arithmetic mean and monthly geometric mean) |
Measured using membrane filtration method or equivalent Most Probable Number (MPN) method. Minimum of 10 samples, each collected on a separate day during a period of 30 consecutive days (monthly) |
||
|
pH |
6.0–8.5 |
Not specified |
||
|
Total chlorine residual |
≥0.5 mg/L |
After at least 15 minutes contact time at the peak hourly flow |
||
|
Secondary treatment and high-level disinfection (Open cooling towers) |
Domestic wastewater |
Turbidity |
Not specified |
Continuous monitoring before disinfection |
|
pH |
6.0–8.5 |
Not specified |
||
|
Total suspended solids |
≥5 mg/L (maximum level before disinfection) |
Not specified |
||
|
Disinfection byproducts |
Not specified |
Continuous online monitoring |
||
|
Giardia |
Not specified |
Monitoring once every 2 years at end of disinfection process for treatment plants with capacities ≥1.0 million gallons per day and once every 5 years at end of disinfection process for treatment plants with capacities ≤1.0 million gallons per day |
||
|
Cryptosporidium |
Not specified |
Monitoring once every 2 years at end of disinfection process for treatment plants with capacities ≥1.0 million gallons per day and once every 5 years at end of disinfection process for treatment plants with capacities ≤1.0 million gallons per day |
||
|
Total chlorine residual |
≥1 mg/L |
After at least 15 minutes contact time at the peak hourly flow |
||
|
Fecal coliforms |
Non-detect (75% of samples over a 30-day period/monthly) ≤25 (single sample maximum) |
Not specified |
Source = Fla. Admin. Code r. 62-610, Fla. Admin. Code r. 62-600.420, Fla. Admin. Code r. 62-600.440
* Information about sampling and monitoring requirements such as frequency, site and quantification methods not specifically listed in the table was not explicitly specified in the state-specific regulations.
Upcoming state law or policy
No upcoming regulations related to water reuse for industry were found for Florida.
References:
Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 2007. F.A.C. 62-610 Reuse of Reclaimed Water and Land Application.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 2016. F.A.C. 62-600.420 Minimum Treatment Standards ‒ Technology Based Effluent Limitations (TBELs).
Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 2016. F.A.C. 62-600.440 Disinfection Requirements.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 2016. F.A.C. 62-600.445 pH Requirements.
Reuse of Reclaimed Water, § 403-064, Fla. Stat. (2021).
Please contact us at waterreuse@epa.gov if the information on this page needs updating or if this state is updating or planning to update its laws and policies and we have not included that information on the news page.